Making Your Own 360 Camera
With the rise of 360- video, you can find many different types of cameras and lenses in stores everywhere but have you ever considered making your own camera? There exist many different types of ways to create a 360-degree camera but the easiest way is to use a parabolic mirror. An example of what you can create is shown below:
This strategy works by pointing a camera upwards towards a parabolic mirror which stretches the camera’s point of view. What a parabolic mirror does is it reflects the light coming into the camera so the camera, instead of just seeing one image in front of it, can observe a circular area around the module.
One way to make your own 360 cameras is to mould your parabolic mirror. To create the parabolic mirror, you must first heat a thin flat piece of reflective material. This is usually done through placing the sheet of reflective material over a stove or heater. Then, you have to mould the reflective sheet into a curved shape by placing it over a previously constructed cast. Then, all you have to do is remove the parabolic curve from the main sheet to get your parabolic mirror. The curvature of the mirror itself depends on multiple factors including the range you want the mirror to have, and the distance between the camera and the mirror. To know what curvature to use, you have to calculate the parameters specific to your form of use.
Although the resulting image is slightly stretched, as one can see above, this method allows a standard camera to act like a 360-degree camera without the use of a fist-eye lens, which is even more difficult to make. Although this method requires a lot of testing, especially pertaining to the curvature of the mirror, it is a relatively useful way to repurpose a standard camera for another task. Professionally made 360-cameras usually cost quite a lot. For example, some cameras made by Samsung can cost you upwards of $300 while making your own requires considerably less money. Therefore, creating your own 360-degree camera can be a reasonably effective way to save money. Even though it may not be as good as a professionally created 360 camera, a custom one does what it is meant to do and can shoot 36-degree footage with a reasonable amount of accuracy.
In conclusion, creating your own 360-degree camera is a relatively interesting experience which in itself is complicated but achievable. Furthermore, creating your own mirror also acts as a way for someone to save money if they want to shoot 360-degree video.
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